Digital Domain Media Group has named industry veteran Jim Berney head of studio at DDMG in Florida. Berney, will oversee the day-to-day operations of DDMG’s Florida studio, which creates visual effects for feature films, military and medical applications, sports teams and venues, and original animated feature films through Tradition Studios.
“Jim is the ideal leader for our growing Florida studio,” said DDMG CEO and chairman John Textor. “He has overseen operations at a top visual effects studio and is highly technical. Most importantly, he has been a visual effects supervisor for many years and is recognized among the top talent in our industry. Everything in our studios is about supporting the creative. Jim understands that, and his leadership philosophy reflects that.”
Berney joins DDMG from Sony Pictures Imageworks where he spent 17 years, four of those leading teams at the company’s New Mexico studio where he played a leadership role in day-to-day studio operations. He is a long-time visual effects supervisor credited on more than 20 feature films including The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, which earned him an Academy Award nomination, Green Lantern, I Am Legend, the IMAX version of The Polar Express, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions.
Prior to Imageworks, Berney was a research technical director and software developer at MetroLight. Berney began his career working for DARPA in a software engineering consortium, and he has developed rendering tools, visual effects lighting pipelines, lighting and flocking software and other technologies. He holds a Master’s degree in computer science from California Polytechnic, San Luis Obispo and Bachelor of Science degrees in computer science and economics from the University of California, Irvine.
“The opportunity to lead and grow this studio is incredibly exciting,” said Berney. “The emphasis on bringing education and production together, the goal to make this studio a place that people can build their careers and their lives, around – that’s what drew me here. I’m looking forward to partnering with Digital Domain studios in California and Vancouver on big studio films, with the feature animation teams here, and helping to take the art and technology of this studio into areas beyond entertainment.”
